NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



621 



Apple Orcharding*, Commercial. By G. B. Brackett (U.S.A. Dep. 

 Agr. Year Bh. 1901, p. 592 ; plates). — It is stated that the Apple has not 

 until recent years been grown in commercial quantities of magnitude in 

 the States. The vast progress and development of Apple culture now 

 places this industry in the front rank of commercial resources. The 

 magnitude of the crop has become such that houses and storerooms, 

 refrigerators, evaporators, and places for expressing the juice have been 

 constructed at all points in fruit regions as required for economic 

 disposition of crops. Dealing with soil, it is said that with a free subsoil 

 underlying it a loamy clay soil will probably yield the best results, 

 especially if it be well prepared by thorough cultivation and subsoiling 

 before planting. Nearly all lands for orchards should have both thorough 

 surface drainage and sub-drainage. No orchard will endure for a great 

 length of time with stagnant water either upon the surface or within the 

 soil. The autumn months are generally regarded as the best time to 

 prepare all lands that are designed for Apple orchards. A good plan is 

 to back-furrow the land so as to leave the dead furrow where the rows 

 of trees are to stand, thus leaving it in a condition for the ameliorating 

 effect of frost. If the land selected is not in a fertile condition at time 

 of ploughing, it should be enriched with thoroughly rotted stable manure 

 spread broadcast over the land before it is ploughed. Valuable hints are 

 given as to selection of the varieties to be grown. It is recommended 

 that only a few varieties be chosen. One of the most common mistakes 

 made by the commercial apple orchardists is in planting too many 

 varieties. Cultivation, pruning, insects, and diseases are dealt with, as 

 also the handling and disposition of the crops. From the very beginning 

 of the planting the grower must exercise incessant vigilance and warfare 

 on the numerous insect enemies and diseases to which the fruit is subject. 

 The greatest enemy to Apple culture is the codlin moth, which is more 

 difficult to combat than most other insects. Spraying with some of the 

 arsenites is the principal remedy and prevention now in use, but this 

 alone is not a perfect success. Nature steps in to assist man in checking 

 the increase of this insect by introducing its enemy the Ichneumon fly. 

 This fly lays its eggs in the codlin moth, and the eggs hatch out grubs 

 which kill the insect.— 7. J. M. 



Apple Rot following- Scab. By John Craig and J. M. Van Hook 

 (U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Cornell Univ., Bull. 207; xi. 1902, figs.)— Contains 

 little additional information concerning the pink rot of Apples following 

 scab, caused by Cephalothecium roscum Corda, noted in abstract from a 

 similar bulletin in Journ. B.H.S. xxviii. p. 233. — F. J. C. 



Apples, American and Canadian. By E. Bartrum, D.D. (Gard. 

 Mag. No. 2617, p. 860; 26/12/03).— The writer discusses the merits of 

 the various Apples which are exported from America, and compares them 

 with English varieties. The first position in point of merit is rightly 

 given to Newtown Pippin, which, unfortunately, cannot be profitably grown 

 in this country. — W. G. 



Apples in Maine. By W. M. Munson (U.S.A. Exp. Stn. Maine, 

 Rep. 1902; pp. 81-96).— This report gives, under the title of " Orchard 



